The current Supreme Court may be one of the most faith-friendly in history, with ruling after ruling affirming the religious rights above other considerations. But one group says they’ve been left out of the flurry of faith-forward rulings: Native Americans.
After years of legal battles over the sale of Oak Flat – a would-be copper mine in Arizona, and one of the Apache tribe’s most sacred religious sites – the Supreme Court just declined to hear the case. That means that the lower court’s decisions to allow the land sale to an Australian mining company will stand, likely reducing a sacred place of tribal worship to a hole in the ground.
Now, Indigenous activists believe that another recent Supreme Court ruling may hold the key to reversing the sale on religious freedom grounds. Will it work?
What is Oak Flat?
The Apache community has been fighting the sale of Oak Flat, a mesa nestled in Tonto National Forest about an hour east of Phoenix, Arizona. For years the federal government has been trying to sell the land to Resolution Copper, an Australian mining company, which would strip the land bare and install a 1,000-foot crater right in the center.
This is no simple plot of land. Apache have worshiped at Oak Flat for thousands of years, and they even recognize the land as the birthplace of their faith. It is their most sacred religious site, and Oak Flat's significance to Apaches has been likened to Mount Sinai for the Abrahamic faiths by Indigenous activists.
Religious Freedom for Some
In recent years, the nation’s highest court hasn’t been shy about prioritizing freedom of religion, with ruling after ruling putting faith first. Yet Native Americans say they’re being left behind, left to wonder why religious freedom is being selectively privileged to some faiths and not others.
At least one Supreme Court justice agrees. Justice Neil Gorsuch vehemently opposed the Court’s decision to move the Oak Flat case off the Court’s docket, and likened cratering Oak Flat to the demolition of a centuries-old Catholic cathedral.
“I have no doubt that we would find that case worth our time,” Gorsuch wrote in a blistering dissent. “Faced with the government’s plan to destroy an ancient site of tribal worship, we owe the Apaches no less. They may live far from Washington, D. C., and their history and religious practices may be unfamiliar to many. But that should make no difference.”
A Legal Hail Mary?
Perhaps the fight isn't quite over, though. The Apaches and their lawyers think that a recent Supreme Court ruling may provide them the legal ammo they need to finally plead their case to the nation’s highest court.
Earlier this month, the Apaches filed a new bid to have their case heard, citing the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Mahmoud v. Taylor. In that case, the Court sided with an alliance of Christian parents who successfully sued a Maryland school board for their right to opt their kids out of classes where their kids might be exposed to LGBTQ+ content on the grounds it would “burden” their religious freedom.
The Apaches say that turning their faith’s holiest site into a copper mine similarly qualifies as a religious burden under Mahmoud. As the tribe's legal counsel Luke Goodrich put things, “it is hard to imagine a more brazen attack on faith than blasting the birthplace of Apache religion into a gaping crater.”
The clock is ticking. The land will transfer to Resolution Copper on August 15th unless there is further legal intervention.
What is your reaction? Is the economic upside worth demolishing the birthplace of a Native religion?
5 comments
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Dan Anderson
Most U.S. Americans do not know about or have bothered to learn about the Native American cultures. The concept of respect for all things around you is missing with 'us 'Muricans' and that causes a rift between the different cultures. When one learns about the deeply spiritual beliefs and actions in the Native American lifestyles, one just might be able to comprehend why life is sacred, not just the wallet and the car you drive.
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Najah P Tamargo
Najah Tamargo-USA
The Native Peoples of this country have had their sacred sites decimated since the arrival of the Eurpeans. One big example- Mt. Rushmore. Their belief systems have been around for thousands of years BEFORE the arrival of Christ. It is, as are these sites, their foundation of those beliefs. I find it repugnant, arrogant, and greedy! They have the absolute RIGHT to protect their sacred sites. My hopes and prayers are with THEM! They have suffered thru genocide, relocation and stolen lands. They SHOLD NOT have these sites destroyed just to make others rich!!
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Reverend Paula Copp
This “administration” (regime) is only concerned about making the rich more wealthy, so religion isn’t important when there’s money to be made. The 🍊🐥🌮 doesn’t care about any religion other than grift, so, since the Apache religion cannot get him any money, he, and therefore the “high” court, doesn’t care. They’d rather turn a sacred site into a copper mine. Obscene!
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Colleen McAllister
This is wrong. This is more than a religious matter. Would the court be ok with putting an ugly mine in the middle of Central Park? How about digging up Mount Vernon? Or Temple Square in Salt Lake City? Who knows. Money is the deciding factor here. The present government couldn't care less about religion — unless it is theirs. Native Americans have little say in this because our government does not care to listen.
The US has never cared about anything related to the Native Americans unless it was convenient or there was money to be made. But having this happen in this day and age really sickens me. This isn't just something as simple as tearing down a church or something. It is THE sacred site of the Apache. That would be like blasting parts of Jerusalem. (Also, I never thought I'd agree with Gorsuch on ANYTHING.)